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Syllabus
Required Texts:
- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vols. 1a,b, c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000.
Supplementary materials:
- A Wilkes e-mail account.
- A computer disk and plastic storage container to be used for this course's work.
- A notebook.
Objectives:
This course will introduce students to English literary texts written through 1785 with the goal of covering the greatest possible number of authors and genres in the space of the semester while learning critical reading/writing skills appropriate to the study of literature. In conjunction with their reading, students will explore the material, cultural, and rhetorical aspects of textual production as well as discipline specific issues regarding the canon in order to obtain the widest possible understanding of the subject we call "English." Participants will engage in active learning by collaborating in small reading/presentation groups that will facilitate their comprehension of the material covered.
Methods and Expectations:
- Class Participation: Students will engage in large and small group oral discussions about the texts they have read.
- Journals: Students will keep a written journal narrating their course work during the first few weeks of the course and will be asked to share the contents with the class during discussions. For the rest of the semester, students will be required to contribute to the course discussion board found at the course web site: http://course.wilkes.edu/eng233. ; Journal/discussion board writing may include, but is not limited to, the following possible activities:
- "Talk back" to the text, other student responses, or lecture material.
- Ponder/explore a question about the text: something that doesn't make sense; something that seems odd; something that makes you say to yourself, "yes, but..."
- Locate and explore/explain some quote that cracks open the meaning of the text for you.
- Provide your unique reader response to a passage or text when it deviates from the canonical/class reading.
- Paper: Each student will produce a critical paper of 3-5 pages, double-spaced, that conforms to MLA guidelines for undergraduate papers. The topic for the paper should explore a question that arises out of oral class discussion, written work in the individual journals and/or the electronic forum. Students have the option of turning in a paper at three different intervals during the semester: October 15, November 16, or December 7. If a student earns a grade of "C" or lower on a paper handed in at one of the two early deadlines, he/she may write an additional paper to be turned in at one of the remaining due dates. The higher of the two grades will be used to calculate the final grade.
Evaluation:
Your final grade will be calculated on an 800-point basis, using the following breakdown
- Three exams: 100 points each = 300 points.
- Paper of 3-5 double-spaced, typed pages that employs MLA style for citations. = 200 points
- Electronic work: discussion board, group presentations. = 100 points
- Class participation = 200 points This is an important component of the course work, and there are several ways in which students may succeed in fulfilling this part of the course.
- We will regularly have oral discussions about the readings in large and small groups; thoughtful participation in each of those settings will benefit every student in the class, not just the speaker.
- Additionally, each student will be required to contribute regularly to the class via informal writing, in a private journal, and electronically, on the web forum. This forum will function as a public "journal" where ideas begun in class may be explored more fully and debates may continue in written form.
- Pop quizzes
- Attendance: Every student should attend every class in order to benefit fully from the course. Attendance will be taken during the first minutes of each class period. More than three absences will lower the final grade. More than seven absences for any reason will constitute grounds for failure of the course.
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